


Arthur

by Thomas_of_the_14th_Doctor



Category: Joker (2019)
Genre: Dark Comedy, Drama, Eventual Romance, F/M, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 07:50:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21240698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thomas_of_the_14th_Doctor/pseuds/Thomas_of_the_14th_Doctor
Summary: A man walks into a path a rough path, but a friend will guide him to a salvation....or destruction.





	Arthur

“Crazy people are considered mad by the rest of the society only because their intelligence isn't understood.”  
― **Wei Hui**  
  
He places the brush on the white paint a bit more, before painting his face more.  
  
He looked on the mirror and made sure the paint stayed on his face well. Then he grabbed another brush and began to face his eyes blue. A small diamond of sort.  
  
“Yo Arthur, where do they have you today?”  
  
He looked right at the large man and simply answered “A store, Randall.”  
  
“Well, good luck.”  
  
He nodded and placed his wig on. He then left the place as he saw the sign above “Don’t forget to smile.” He snorted.  
  
The thinner man looked back at the mirror and gave a smile. He pondered how much can he extend his face. Maybe to grin more. Maybe.  
  
_One hour later….  
_  
Arthur began to dance to the music, while moving the sign, pointing at the store. He saw a few clients going in and going out and knew he was doing a good job. He then twirled the sign and caught it. He noticed a few people giving him a disgust look and he just ignored after.

He moved the sign up, until he felt someone grabbing it.

“We got it, we got it!”  
  
He saw a bunch of teenagers running for it with the sign.  
  
“Hey stop right there!”  
  
He ran as fast as he could go. Although the man was thin, the heavy shoes and traffic make it difficult to catch them. But he knew that if he didn’t get the sign back, it will go to his paycheck. He needed to get the sign.

He avoided people, left and right, all while yelling someone to stop them. He saw very few of them did do something about it, but most of them avoided it. He had to get it back. He had to.  
  
He then saw them turn left and he immediately followed. He saw in the distance they stopped.  
  
Good.  
  
He can grab the sign and call it day. He kept running right at them when he felt a hard hit in the face. The sign was destroyed as it knocked the air out of him. He laid on the ground, all while he felt his body being stomped hard.

“Fuck him up!”

“Yeah, get him!”  
  
“Get his wallet!”  
  
They tried to get his wallet but he clutched it like his life depended on him. One of the tried to let him go on it, until one of them shouted “Come on, let’s go!”  
  
They decided to let it go and left him there.  
  
Arthur was in pain all over his body. He couldn’t move much, and groaned.

That is when he heard footsteps. He turned a little and winced. A man, wearing a shabby suit with a moustache, had a sad smile on him.  
  
“Sorry that happened to you, Arthur. Just don’t move.”  
  
He nodded and sighed “I thought you were at work, Norman.”  
  
He chuckled “I am at a lunch break. And just seeing you getting beat up, I decided to see if you needed help. Just don’t move, while I get help.”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
Norman left to look for help, all while the man in clown make up laid there. He sighed in relief knowing he will be okay.  
  
_In an office…._

Arthur was laughing in somewhat in pain. Tears were running on his eyes, all while a dark-skinned woman looked at him, seriously. He laughed a bit more, until he began to cough from the fits of laughter. He then stopped laughing as he cried for a bit and looked at the woman. A few tears escaped him, until he felt some relief from it.  
  
“I’m glad that you got saved by your friend again.”  
  
He nodded “He is always been there for me.”  
  
“Is he helping you in other problems you have?”  
  
“Yes. He would tell me how I am natural comedian, just needed to bring more confidence. And he also told me a way to mask my laughter at times, so it won’t be indecent.”  
  
“It seems that we are progressing somewhere. Did you brought your journal?”  
  
He nodded and took it out.  
  
“I wrote a number of things, lately.”  
  
She opened the notebook, filled with writings that would match of that of a child, but writings nonetheless. She skimmed it, looking for anything off. A few pages of nude woman here and there.

Some words with hopes of becoming a comedian, dreams of figuring out his life, sadness of Gotham’s condition, anger of the unfairness and despair. She kept going until she reached to nothing but jokes. Some were more or less jokes that she already heard, but a few are original ones.  
  
She saw a handful of morbid one. They detail death, until she reached toward a recent one.  
  
Why was the leper hockey game cancelled?

There was a face off in the corner  
  
She nearly chuckled on it. “Some are funny, but some are morbid.”  
  
He nodded and took out a cigarette and lights it up.  
  
“My friend tells me that comedy is subjective. However, if I am on stage, I have to know the audience at what they want to hear.”  
  
“Indeed.” She closed the notebook and handed it back to him.  
  
_One hour later….  
  
_“How did it go, Arty?”  
  
He shrugged as his friend Norman was tagging along. “Same, except she chuckled on a recent joke.”  
  
“Ah, see? You are getting there.”  
  
“Yeah, but she did told me to tone down the dark jokes, if I am to be up as a stand-up comedian.”  
  
“That is understandable, especially how Gotham isn’t getting any better.”  
  
They both got into the bus and it drove off. They found two empty seats and sat down.  
  
“So, why do you ride the bus again?”  
  
“I already told you, my car got recked badly. If it didn’t, we would be driving from point a to point b. Damn drunk drivers and their sports cars.”  
  
He nodded and looked out the window. “Norm.”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Do you think life is a comedy?”  
  
“Maybe. Who knows, just work on your jokes and your confidence.”  
  
He nodded, all while he watched on the bridge. Then he felt someone was watching him. He saw a child right in front of him, looking bored. He shrugged it off and decided to entertain the kid. He places both palms away from his face and then then closes it, to cover his face. Then he opens it immediately, all while making a silly face.  
  
The kid giggled.  
  
Then he did it vertically as the kid laughed more. Good. Watching a smile is needed.  
  
“Hey stop bothering my kid!”  
  
He looked at the woman in question.  
  
“I wasn’t bother-“  
  
“Just don’t.”  
  
“I wasn’t” Then came a bad timing for him. He began to laugh uncontrollably.  
  
“You think this is funny?!”  
  
He shook his head until Norman interviened “Sorry about that ma’am. One moment. Arthur, your card.”  
  
He took it out, while trying to control his laughter.  
  
She looked at it and read:  
  
I’m sorry that my laughter has disturbed you. I have a condition that makes me laugh in inappropriate times and that is not my intention. I cannot control it.  
  
“Sorry about that, my friend has had this condition for years.”  
  
Arthur is calming down, while he coughed a bit.  
  
The woman rolled her eyes and just continued on looking on the bus. Arthur finally was calm and felt embarrassed.  
  
“Sorry.”  
  
Norman patted his shoulder, knowing this is something he is still trying to conquer.  
  
_On the streets…._

_  
_He walked out the store with Norman as they went to a long stairs.  
  
“You know, if we keep doing this, we might enter a competition on running.”  
  
“We would be winning the bronze medal for it.”  
  
“Yeah. Possibly.”  
  
They kept walking up until they reached the top. Norman had to stop and took out a small little item and began to press it and breathe.  
  
“It must be difficult not breathing.”  
  
“No, but I do hope it becomes an improvement.”  
  
“Did you consider living a better place?”  
  
“And what, leave you here? No thank you, rather have a good friend than live with no friends.”  
  
Arthur smirked and they kept moving. They saw a near run down building.  
  
“Well Arthur, see you around.”  
  
“You too Norman. You too.”  
  
As Arthur was going in, Norman said “Oh, and Arthur.”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Just practice breathing and ease on the medication.”  
  
He nodded and went in.  
  
Inside of the building he went to check the mail. Nothing as he sighed.  
  
His life is always mundane, go to work, talk to his case worker, hang out with Norman, go home and take care of his mother. A routine.  
  
He reached the elevator door and pressed a button for the 4th floor. He waited for the elevator to close the door.  
  
“Hold the door!”  
  
He stopped the door from closing. And in came a woman. A young pretty dark skinned woman with a child.  
  
“Thanks.”  
  
He nodded  
  
She then saw the button was already pressed on the floor.  
  
“Same floor?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
She smiled and sighed in relief as the elevator moved.  
  
Just as it reached the third floor it stopped and the lights nearly went out.  
  
“Great. It seems that we might get stuck here.”  
  
“Mommy. Are we going to be stuck here?”  
  
“I don’t know. This whole place is going down.”  
  
Then Arthur remembered an advice to keep things positive.  
  
“Don’t worry, it will work. Observe.”  
  
He waved his hands in an exaggerating manner. “Hocus pocus”  
  
The child looked at him oddly until they felt the elevator moved again, and she gasped “Wow.”  
  
The man smirked, as he knew when it starts functioning going on up again. The woman smiled at him “Are you a magician?”  
  
“Well, part clown, part magician.”  
  
He then got on one knee as the elevator was slowly moving up. He took out a coin and showed it in front of a girl “There is always a small magic that exist. It maybe difficult to see it.” He made it disappear as she stared in awe “But it exist.” He then got the coin out of her ear. And he gave it to her.  
  
The mother smiled softly. She has seen him a few times, but never knew if he could talk. And he seemed, harmless. And is making his daughter smile and laugh. Then the door of the elevators opened and they got out.  
  
They were heading in separate ways.  
  
“My name is Arthur.”  
  
“My name is Sophie Dumond, and this is my daughter, Selina.”  
  
“Nice meeting you both. Have a goodnight.” He bowed. And then walked on.  
  
The woman shook her head and thought “_Odd, but cute guy._”  
  
For Arthur this was a victory for him. He had a hard time speaking to women, but this is a first for him. He might find out more about her. In time.  
  
He reached to his apartment and opened it. Once inside, he placed the brown bag on the kitchen table and sighed in relief. He was home now.  
  
“Arthur is that you?”  
  
“Yes, mother. I just got home!”  
  
“That’s great. How was work?”

“Oh it was good. Just another run in the mill.”  
  
He then took out the contents out of the brown bag. Bottles of medicine and he opened it. He took one of them and sighed in relief.  
  
“You hungry, mom?”  
  
“Yes, please.”  
  
He prepared her dinner and something for himself. He reflected on his life. A hard, yet somewhat simple life. As he was cooking her food, he took out two things from his other bag. His notebook and a black book.  
  
Norman gave it to him as a gift. He told him “It’s a good book.”  
  
He agreed on it and read parts of it. It did helped him enjoy it, and at times was inspired by a joke or two, though light hearted ones.  
  
Dinner was ready and served it to his mother and brought his in the room.  
  
“You look tired, Arty.”  
  
“Yeah. But I love spreading smile to others. By the way, I made the social worker chuckle on a joke.”  
  
“Oh? Let’s hear it.”  
  
He sat down next to her and looked at the writing. Then he read it “Why was the leper hockey game cancelled? There was a face off in the corner.”  
  
She gave a chuckle “You’re getting better at it.”  
  
He smiled proudly. It took a while to make his own mother laugh, but he is getting there. Then he took a bite off from his dinner and then his mother changed the channel.  
  
“Oh the Murray show is on!”  
  
They watched on as a middle aged man, wearing a fancy suit was in the center stage. Looking confident he looked at the crowd.  
  
“You know, this whole super rat problem has been a menace in our cities, right? So the mayor was on television and said ‘I have a solution to that: let’s release some super cats!’”  
  
The crowd laughed and so did Arthur and his mother.  
  
To Arthur his dreams are to be on his show to do a stand up.  
  
_“The city is becoming a dumb, but hey, the garbage man is overjoyed because when one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”  
  
The crowd laughed as a distinct laugh seems louder.  
  
“Yes, so-“  
  
“I love you Murray!”  
  
He stopped for a moment “Who said that? Can someone put the light on him.”  
  
The spotlight fell on Arthur and he seemed shy about it.  
  
“Ah, a smart fella. So do you love the show?”  
  
“Of course I do. Bringing laughter is a cure to depression.”  
  
“What’s your name?”  
  
“My name is Arthur. I am from around here. I live with my mother, who I take care of.”  
  
“Interesting. Taking care of your mother and working hard.”  
  
“Yes sir.”  
  
“You remind me of me when I started it off. Near homeless, taking care of a loved one, and then slowly but surely, I finally reached to the top. Come here Arthur!”  
  
He was shocked as he finally came down from the audience.  
  
He arrived next to him and felt nervous, yet happy.  
  
“How about tonight, we have here Arthur telling a few jokes and maybe just to show that skill to make people laugh?”  
  
The crowd clapped as Arthur felt elated by this. Once it cut, Murray embraced him, as Arthur did himself.  
  
“Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down.”  
  
“Wish I had a son like you and be proud of you.”  
  
_All his desired to be loved like that is what all he wanted. Thankfully, he still has his friend though that is helping him out, and maybe…maybe he might reach the top where his existence is there.  



End file.
